Microsoft announced new opportunities for global partners to innovate in the fields of mixed reality, gaming and cellular PCs with Windows 10.
The announcements were made at the Windows Hardware Engineering Community event (WinHEC) in Shenzhen, China.
Modern PCs
Terry Myerson, executive vice president, Windows and Devices Group, Microsoft, was joined on stage in Shenzhen by Navin Shenoy, senior vice president and general manager for the Client Computing Group, Intel Corporation, and Cristiano Amon, executive vice president, Qualcomm Technologies, and president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies.
Microsoft explained its latest collaboration with Intel, code-named “Project Evo.”
Through this collaboration, devices of the future will leverage Microsoft and Intel innovations, including the following:
#Far-field speech communications so you can ask Cortana a question or play a song from across the room
#The latest security capabilities to protect devices from malware and hacking threats, advances in biometric authentication with Windows Hello, sophisticated insights from Microsoft’s Intelligent Security Graph, and additional world-class security intelligence and analytics from Intel
#Mixed-reality experiences for everyone through affordable PCs and head-mounted displays (HMDs) that blend the physical and virtual realities in ways no other platform can.
#Gaming innovations like eSports, game broadcasting, and support for 4K, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Wide Color Gamut (WCG), spatial audio, and Xbox controllers with native Bluetooth.
Myerson said, “With the Windows 10 Creators Update and our partnerships with Qualcomm and Intel, we can build technology that serves all of us by ensuring there are devices for the creator in each of us.”
Mixed Reality
With a view of making mixed reality mainstream in 2017 with Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft announced several new steps at the event.
The company said it has submitted Microsoft HoloLens for government approval in China for availability to developers and commercial customers here in the first half of 2017.
Besides, it shared the specifications that its co-developed with Intel for PCs that will power the first headsets capable of mixed reality. HMDs from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo will be available next year.
Joining these partners (Intel& Qualcomm), 3Glasses, the China-based hardware developer for HMDs, will bring the Windows 10 experience to its S1 device in the first half of 2017, reaching more than 5 million monthly active customers in China.
With all these measures, customers will gain access to mixed-reality content:
#More than 20,000 universal Windows apps in the catalog
#3-D objects from the web using Microsoft Edge to drag and drop into their physical world
#Immersive WebVR content via Microsoft Edge
#360-degree videos available for the first time in the Microsoft Movies & TV app
Microsoft also conveyed that HMD developer kits will become available to developers at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
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Windows with cellular connectivity
In future Windows 10 updates, Microsoft will enable connectivity that is always within reach. Customers will be able to easily buy data directly from the Windows Store and be in control of how they use Wi-Fi and cellular networks, consume data, and manage costs.
To deliver on customers’ growing need to create on the go, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 is coming to ARM architecture through a partnership with Qualcomm.
For the first time, customers will be able to experience the Windows they know with the apps, peripherals and enterprise capabilities they require, on a truly mobile, power-efficient, always-connected cellular PC.
Hardware partners will be able to build a range of new Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered Windows 10 PCs that run x86 Win32 and universal Windows apps, including Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office and popular Windows games.
These new devices are expected to be in market as early as next year.
Microsoft & Qualcomm deal
The event also witnessed collaboration between Microsoft and Qualcomm to enable Windows 10 on mobile computing devices powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processors.
This tie-up is expected to enable mobile, power efficient, always-connected cellular PC devices.
Supporting full compatibility with the Windows 10 ecosystem, the Snapdragon processor is designed to enable Windows hardware developers to create next generation device form factors, providing mobility to cloud computing.
